Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Happy Wednesday, friends! I hope everyone is having a blessed week. I'm popping in today to share a sweet and sappy card featuring a few goodies from the 7 Kids College Fund Store. :o)

I have a new crafty love! When our amazing store owner started carrying Tattered Lace metal dies, I swooned. These dies are astoundingly beautiful and I love them even more after playing with them for the first time. :o)

They cut my thinner red paper and my heavyweight white cardstock perfectly. :o) I love using border dies as frames, as it adds to their versatility and gives options for crafters without frame dies. (Like me!) So I cut out four of these gorgeous heart designs to make a sweet frame for my heartfelt greeting. Beloved Borders comes with four different border dies, each one truly lovely. My sappy heart couldn't resist using this one first. :o)

The lacy daisies are so whimsical, yet elegant. The coordinating leaves are beautiful! Shadow dies for the daisies are included, but I wanted to keep the base paper showing through for the utmost lacy appearance. :o) The set also comes with a stamen, but I opted to use scalloped pearls for their centers.

My patterned papers are from Authentique's Smitten collection, one of my favorites from the Valentine's releases. Love-inspired papers are appropriate all year long! :o) For fluttery love I added a couple of butterflies, along with pearls and a two-toned rose for elegance. The metal filigree corners are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The "love" was cut with my Cameo from a favor box cut file.

A week remains in our current challenge, which is extra festive since it's our 100th! Play along with us at the 7 Kids Challenge Blog, where FOUR $25 gift certificates will be awarded in celebration! Have a blessed day! :o)

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Hello, my sweet friends! Guess what?! It's almost time for the next My Craft Spot stamp release party! YAY! The festivities begin Monday (June 2nd) and last the entire week! There will be prizes every day as we share our sneak peek projects with you. On Saturday (June 7th) we're celebrating with a Blog Hop, where even more prizes and fun will be had! :o)

There are four new stamp sets, plus 2 new metal die sets! Everything is fantastic and I'm having such fun with them! :o) We also have two sweet and talented guest designers joining us for the party, so an abundance of inspiration will await you each day!

Kimberly's generosity always begins early, as she is giving away a stamp set (of the winners choice!) to one lucky crafter! Flutter over to THIS POST at My Craft Spot for your chance to win!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Shaped cards are always amongst my favorites, but I especially love that they pack a sweet punch when you don't have a ton of time available. I wanted to pour a ton of detailing into this, but the clock was against me! That is the beauty in shaped cards...

This little sailboat will soon be fluttering straight into the heart of a precious baby girl named Violet who is in need of extra love and sunshine as she battles leukemia. She is this month's I Feel the Love Project recipient and I already love her with all of my heart.

Because Violet is only 1 year old, I made it bright and whimsical! The sailboat cut file is from the Silhouette Online Store and I decorated it with fun butterfly, heart, and polka dot Doodlebug papers. These sweet butterflies are fluttering over to Violet, guiding the sailboat with a base of love. I added a border of tiny pom pom trim for her tiny little fingers to explore.

The shadow of my card is bright yellow for a sunshiny background, as I want all of her days to be filled with heavenly light. I added a few Bo Bunny rhinestone flourishes to the heart bottom as sparkling waves... or as a reflection of the glimmering sunbeams dancing on the water's surface. This sailboat is guided by and built upon love. I hope it makes this sweet child smile. :o)

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Today begins a new challenge at the 7 Kids Challenge Blog! The theme is Anything Goes, so share with us whatever you fancy. :o) Today's challenge is special, as it's our 100th! To celebrate, our generous store owner is giving away extra prizes! FOUR $25 gift certificates to the store will be awarded! One for the random winner and one for each of the Top 3 DT Picks! How amazing is that?! :o)

This week I colored up an adorable Wild Rose Studio stamp: Bunny with Flowers! Note: The dark cardstock is a gorgeous plum-purple shade to match the DP, not the black that it may appear! (And I finally played with kraft cardstock! So pretty.)

Isn't he a little sweetheart? And I love how large the bouquet is. He fits perfectly in the largest die of the Spellbinders Standard Circles (Small) set. After coloring it with Copics, I added Star Dust to the purple flowers and Wink of Stella to the yellow. His tiny tail is covered in Polar White Flower Soft for extra fun. Per usual, I fussy-cut an extra copy of the stamp as a mask to sponge a sky backdrop. For this card I used Tim Holtz Broken China Distress Ink and a cloud template. My papers are lightly inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

The entire Wild Rose Studio line is pure whimsy and always a delight to create with! :o) The beautiful floral/fruity paper is from Do Craft's Tilly Daydream collection, to which I paired a neutral dot pattern from My Mind's Eye.

My card base was created with a cut file from the Silhouette Online Store. The floral doily beneath my image is a PPBN cut file, which I've centered with tiny flowers from an EK Success border punch. Each flower and the fluttering butterflies (from a Fiskars punch) are centered with pearls.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Today starts a new challenge at My Craft Spot and it's a festive one! :o) We're challenging you to create cards and projects for Graduation or any congratulatory occasion! With no graduates in my life this year, I opted to make a wedding card. :o)

(I apologize for the slightly dark photos.. my ivory base was getting lost in the white background otherwise!) Knowing this was going to be simpler in style than usual, I chose pretty patterns and shapes for my layers. I love silhouettes and thought this would be a fun opportunity to use one! The precious bride and groom cut file is from the Silhouette Online Store. To fancier her up a smidgen, I added pearl detailing and used a flower punch to make a small bouquet.

The "Congrats" is from the beautiful MCS Big Words metal dies set. I adore this set and the gorgeous font! I cut it out twice, in pearlescent white and sparkling black, so it would properly stand out amidst the layers.

My pearl-accented card base was created with the Timeless Rectangle set from Spellbinders, to which I've nested a Gold Labels 4 layer inside. The Echo Park papers are from their Be Mine collection. :o) (I had the wrong collection listed this morning... my apologies!)

Be sure to flutter on over to check out the marvelous work from my teamies! I hope you'll join in the fun this week, as I truly love visiting you. :o) Thank you for visiting! Have a sparkly day. :o)

Stenciling tags is a nice way to dabble into the world of stenciling/inking fun, which was one of my goals with this project. The first two were created a few weeks ago, which you've already seen (HERE and HERE)... but I wanted to show them as a set! :o) I'm so excited to now have this gift complete, as I saved the third one to make during this Inking Technique week at My Craft Spot!

This set is part of my contribution to this month's I Feel the Love Project, where we are creating for a precious baby undergoing chemotherapy and her parents. This is for Violet's parents as a reminder that they are dearly loved and not fighting alone.

New today is the jewel-toned sunset version, brought to life by several of Kimberly's fantastic goodies. :o)

Each tag features one of the sweet butterflies from the Jar Full of Flowers stamp set, with its flourishing trail coming from Tiny Tags 2. (I love the gorgeous mini flourishes on that stamp set!) The background was created with a Honey Comb Memory Box stencil and three shades of distress ink: Dusty Concord, Victorian Velvet, and Dried Marigold. The tag base is a Marianne Design die.

This variation showcases one of Kimberly's newest metal dies, the stunning Flowers- Rolled Roses. I let them fall open in slightly different measurements for an assortment. The greenery was made with a Memory Box Small Olive Branch metal die. My sentiment is from Kimberly's Simply Sentiments stamp set, as is the warm-toned sunset tag. The middle tag's sentiment is from Tiny Tags 2. I used My Craft Spot crinkle ribbon for each, in the lovely shades of Snow White, Aqua Mist, and Deep Purple.

The papers are from Wild Rose Studio's Peach Blossom collection. The butterflies and flowers on each tag are covered with sheer shimmer from a Wink of Stella Glitter Brush marker, which is tough to capture on camera... but so pretty in person. :o)

I hope Violet's parents continue to grow in faith and trust in Him during this unexpected trial... He is far greater than every disease and will deliver this sweet baby. :o)

The beautiful papers are from Wild Rose Studio's Butterfly Glade collection. The rich shade of purple and the lovely butterflies make these patterns two of my favorites. Lemon Pepper's balloon is paper-pieced to give it a fancy flowery design. I surrounded her with Wild Orchid Crafts roses, which are atop Cheery Lynn Designs' Mini Fanciful Flourish. My Pink Gem Designs sentiment is from their Vintage Occasions stamp set.

Friday, May 9, 2014

I'm planning to make a sweet little set of mason jar-shaped tags for a gift and this is my first one. The mason jar is from the Jar Basics stamp set, which I heat-embossed a deep shade of blue and cut out with the coordinating Jar Basics metal die set.

I chose gorgeous papers from a Susan Winget K and Company collection for my fruit-filled jar. This glossy-fruit design is one of the main reasons I bought the pad! (Don't ask me why I didn't stamp the lid... I cannot believe I missed that part! So upset about that.)

The sentiment is one of my favorites from Kimberly's Tasty Treats stamp set, which is heat-embossed to match the jar. I was delighted to discover it fits nicely within the Tiny Doilies 2 metal dies! I accented it with pearls to match my pearl-centered Denim crinkle ribbon. The lacy trim beneath the lid is from Wild Orchid Crafts, as is the scalloped pearl.

Precious butterflies...

You know my love of butterflies! I love them as much as I love sparkles. :o) I colored two butterflies from the Jar Full of Flowers stamp set with my Copic markers, fussy-cut them out, and covered them in Star Dust.

I love the fun dimension you can give these butterfly stamps of Kimberly's!

Thank you for visiting and I wish you a blessed and sunshiny weekend! :o)

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

A new Anything Goes challenge begins today at the 7 Kids Challenge Blog! I hope you'll join in the fun, as your creativity inspires us! Be sure to use products (primarily the image) available at 7 Kids to be eligible to win a gift certificate to the store! :o)

Although the theme is Anything Goes for participants, the DT added a twist to our contributions: Flowers! I took the opportunity to make a tag featuring a few beautiful Memory Box goodies.

I am making a set of coordinating nature-themed encouragement tags, the first of which I posted a few weeks ago. I began by using the Memory Box Honey Comb stencil over a patterned paper from the Wild Rose Studio Peach Blossom collection. Previously I made a warm sunset background of oranges through the stencil. For this version, I used Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass to mimic the sky, Scattered Straw for a touch of sunshine, and created a grassy base. I didn't have a proper green for the bottom, so I combined the blue and yellow to make a light shade.

In my first tag, my scene was creating with a nature stamp. This time, I created a floral scene with three sets of Memory Box dies! I used the Small Olive Branch for my greenery and Adorable Posies and Fairy Flower Drops for my flowers. You may be surprised at the lack of rhinestones in the center of those three opened flowers... don't worry, I'm not sick! ;) I ran out of my stash of tiny sparkles... which is just so sad. They will be added before this gets mailed out, that's for sure. ;)

Monday, May 5, 2014

For this week's challenge at My Craft Spot, you have a choice! We are celebrating Mother's Day and Spring, so take your pick and join in the fun! :o)

For my mom's card this year, I'm honoring a sweet and special part of our relationship: our weekly Starbucks dates! :o)

We make a lot of goofy and fun memories over our special drinks! Regardless of how busy life gets, I make it a point never to miss one of these dates or turn down an invitation for a spontaneous one. Everything gets tossed aside so I can spend a beautiful hour or two with her. :o) What we order varies based upon season or mood, of course! For this I made her a Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino with a cut file from Lettering Delights' Love You a Latte set. :o)

I made the whipped cream with liquid applique, which was such fun! If you enlarge this close-up, you'll see that I covered it with glitter before heating it:

The sparkly whipped cream is covered with Tickled Pink sequins, which serve as pink sprinkles. (Shouldn't everything come with pink sprinkles?) I centered them with tiny pearls. To make her glass fancy, the rim is trimmed with pink rhinestones. The black pearls in the drink are the cookie crumbles. :o)

I was anxious to use the fun new Flowers- Rolled Roses metal dies again, which is trimmed in Star Dust and centers my Pink Bubblegum bow. The sentiment is from Tiny Tags 2, which is cut out with the coordinating Tiny Tags metal dies. The polka dot flower and sentiment papers are from Doodlebug's Hello Spring.

My background paper is from Pebbles' Front Porch collection and I used my La-La Land Crafts Filigree Corner metal die to adorn the corners. Each is accented with graduating sizes of Recollections pearls.

Be sure to flutter on over to My Craft Spot to see what my teamies have created to inspire you! I hope you'll play along with us this week! I look forward to seeing what you create. :o) Have a blessed day!

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Today the 7 Kids College Fund Design Team is featuring the adorable stamps from SugarPea Designs! You can find all of our cards showcased on the 7 Kids Blog, where one lucky commenter there will win a $25 gift certificate to the 7 Kids Store! :o)

For my card, I played with the precious SugarPea set titled Tweet Friend! This is my first contribution for this month's I Feel the Love Project recipients: sweet baby Violet (who is battling leukemia and currently receiving chemotherapy and blood transfusions), as well as her parents to encourage them along.

I made this for Violet's parents, to bring extra blessings and sweetness to their home.

How cute is this stamp?! It comes with several wonderful sentiments, including the "Bless your nest" that I chose. I colored this little sweetheart with Copics after sponging her sky with Tumbled Glass distress ink and a cloud template. Star Dust sparklifies several areas of my image, including the tiny little egglets. The whimsical tree and nest were a little intimidating at first, but they were fun to color. :o)

The pretty papers are from the Front Porch collection by Pebbles. I cut apart a Memory Box Butterfly Vine Border to scatter sunshiny butterflies throughout my card, meant to deliver healing light and strength to the entire family. My pearl accents, including the border beneath my sentiment, are from Recollections. I hope with all of my heart that this brings a smile to this precious family.

Be sure to flutter on over to the 7 Kids Blog and comment for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the 7 Kids Store! Plus you'll be inspired by the work of my talented teamies. :o) Have a blessed and beautiful day!

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